HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/07/1997 Regular Council Meeting MinutesPLACE AND DATE
Marana Town Hall January 7, 1997.
I. CALL TO ORDER
By Mayor Honea at 7:05 p.m.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Led by Mayor Honea
III. INVOCATION
Led by Mayor Honea
IV. ROLL CALL
COUNCIL
Ed Honea
Sharon Price
Tom Clark
Ora Mae Harn
Sherry Millner
Herb Kai
Bobby Sutton Jr.
STAFF
Hurvie Davis
Dan Hochuli
Sandra Groseclose
Jerry Flannery
Dave After
Doug Maples
Roy Cuaron
Jocelyn Entz
30 Members of the Public
Mayor
Vice-Mayor
Council Member
Council Member
Council Member
Council Member
Council Member
Town Manager
Town Attorney
Town Clerk
Planning Administrator
Town Engineer
Chief Building Official
Finance Director
Assistant to the Town Manager
V. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Mayor Honea: Item A3 was pulled from the Consent Agenda, it will be continued until the next
meeting.
A motion was made by Ora Harn~ seconded by Tom Clark and carried unanimously to
approve the Agenda as written, with the removal of Item A3.
VI. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTE~
A motion was made by Sherry Millner, seconded by Herb Kai and carried unanimously to approve
the minutes of the regular Town Council meeting of December 3, 1996.
VII, CALL TO TIlE PUBLIC/ANNOUNCEMENTS
Roy Cuaron: Mr. Cuaron introduced Frank Bandy, he will be the new accounting specialist.
MARANA TOWN COUNCIL
[ .IANUARY 7, 1997
VIII. STAFF REPORTS
IX. GENERAL ORDER OF BUSINESS
A. Consent Agenda
1. Resolution No. 97-01; Request for a Special Events Liquor License - Request by Applicant,
Bruce Tennebaum, on behalf of The Exchange Clubs of Tucson Parent Aid Program for the
issuance of a Special Events Liquor License.
2. Ev~n~ton of CDBG Senior Citizen Prescription Drug Pro,ram - Expansion of parameters to
include ali qualified citizens.
3. Marana Monument Identification Sign - Request by the Tucson - Pima Arts Council for the
Town of Marana to share in the cost of the installation of the Marana monument
identification sign.
Pulled from the Consent Agenda and continued until the next Council Meeting to be held January
21, 1997.
4. v~q-est for Use of the Town of Marana Logo and Motto - Northwest Fire District is
re~luesting al~i~roval to use the Town of Marana logo and motto on the sign to be located on
Grier Road at the entrance of Station 36, Marana.
A motion was made by Sharon Price, seconded by Bobby Sutton, Jr. and carried unanimously to
approve Items # 1, 2 and 4 of the Consent Agenda.
B. Public Hearing; Resolution No. 97-06; Town of Marana General Plan - Request for adoption
of the Town of Marana General Plan.
Hurvie Davis: This item comes to Council this evening primarily with staffs recommendation for
adoption of the General Plan. It is a rather complex document that will guide the future growth and
development of this Community in the years to come. He feels that this issue warrants a special
study session, so Council Members can fully understand the General Plan and how it impacts the
community in the furore. At that time Council could give staff some direction for fine tuning the Plan
prior to adoption.
Jerry Fiannery: Over a year ago we began the process of selecting a consultant to conduct a
General Plan update for the Town of Marana. Last year we had formed a General Plan Advisory
Committee, they came together to select a consultant. Since that time the consultant has been
working on this plan. Staff as well as the consultant, including the Technical Advisory Committee
made up of a number of different people from different jurisdictions, all came together to come up
with a General Plan for the Town. We've conducted several public hearings on this issue. The
planning consultant from CSC/Counts, Mr. Rick Counts is here tonight to answer any questions
and to give Council a general overview of where it's at at this point. He would recommend that public
testimony be given tonight and that testimony be taken and included in any material that is brought
back to Council.
Rick Counts, CSC/Counts: Mr. Counts gave a brief run down of the General Plan to Council. They
have been working on this for a number of months. He distributed a copy to the Council of what will
be the presentation board. The first section of the Marana Vision is the goals, objectives and policies
upon which the rest of the Plan is based and flows. Those goals were established early in 1996 by
citizens of this Community and thoroughly reviewed. They formulated the brain work for discussion
of the plan elements, fonr were selected. Two are required by statute, land use and transportation.
Only the largest cities in Arizona are required to have other plan elements. In addition to those two
Marana has decided to do an element on economic development and a fourth on public facilities and
services. That second portion of the document surveys each of those four principal topics and it is
set forth in such a way that each of the four elements is organized in similar fashions. First there's
some basic status quo data, then there are analysis on where we are going and when. Trends in the
Community are noted and recommendations are indicated for each of those four elements. Council
had asked when this was started that two major emphasises be considered for this Community. One
is growth management and another is preserving the rural character of the Community. We believe
that recommendations that ran throughout the four elements and are embodied in a number of the
recommendations help to substantiate those major concerns in a way that does not make Marana a
MARANA TOWN COUNCIL
JANUARY 7, 1997
no growth, no development community. But rather conserves those elements of the history and the
development to this point of which Marana is most proud. He would be happy to answer any
questions that Council might have.
Tom Levitt, P. O. Box 414740, Kansas City, MO.: He wanted to compliment the staff for their
openness during this process, this is a very complex task. More work needs to be done and he has
met with staff as late as today to talk about some of the technical issues. He believes there is going
to be some conflict between the narratives of the Plan and the maps. The idea of neighborhood
clusters which today is a very fashionable idea is a good one, but in some cases that ignores the
need for larger developments ora regional character. What the map does is to elevate to the status of
the exclusive large scale commercial developments, the existing Specific Plans that have been
adopted by the Town of Marana. What's happened is the developers who have come to Marana over
the last ten years who have gotten commercial designation then are the only ones who on this map
show up as red. Red is not the only place where there can be commercial development. The Plan in
numerous places recognizes the overall importance of transportation routes for economic and
employment centers in Marana, yet it doesn't place at the intersection of those super arterials
important commercial nodes. He didn't have a chance to discuss with staff today another issue
which came to his attention as he understood the way the map has been changed from the map that
was distributed in November in connection with the Planning Commission. That issue is that the low
density residential areas have been extended to Shannon all the way to La Cholla without any relief,
without any break for commercial, without any recognition of schools or employment centers or
quasi-public uses. The Town of Oro Valley recently adopted a General Plan, this plan shows a
number of various type of development, medium densiW, commercial, schools and other things. He
would recommend that quite a bit further consideration be given to this corridor, because if it's
simply brushed with a broad stroke and the whole thing is designated as low density residential, he
believes that the effect of that will be to compel all of that land into another municipality. He wanted
to thank everyone for a great deal of the work that's gone into this Plan.
Carl Winters, 270 N. Church, Tucson, AZ.: He gave each Council Member a copy of the Oro Valley
General Plan and also the Pima County General Plan for Avra Valley/Tortolita sub-region. He would
also like to commend staff, the consultant and the committees involved for an enormous amount of
work. He knows that doing a general plan never satisfies everybody and there are pros and cons on
how specific it ought to be and how general it ought to be. He would request when Council meets in
the study session and carries this process forward, to think in terms of how this plan is going to
serve the Town. What a general plan is a statement by the governing body of what the Town
anticipates happening in the Community. While he fully agrees the Plan should be general, on the
other hand everybody pulls out the map and looks at the map. Realistically nobody's going to read
the book. He thinks that the map therefore has to give a little further direction, if not on the map
itself, certainly on the legend. The way it works at the moment he feels it causes a great deal of
confusion. Other Town policies also that are going to be clearly impacted by how this document ends
up were just reflected by Tom Levitt. Does the current document do what the Town wants it to do; he
doesn't feel that it does.
Mayor Honea: He would suggest that each person that has specific problems with the Plan or if you
think there are issues that need to be added or changed, get the materials to Mr. Flannery prior to
the study session so that it can be considered.
Bill Schisler, 12561 N. White Ave., Marana, AZ.: He doesn't represent any developers and he
doesn't own land that would benefit from this Plan. He thinks a lot of credit should be given to the
consultant and the Planning staff, they've been working real hard. Everybody worked real hard on
this issue. This Plan had a lot of input from the citizens of this Town. You have to look at the land
itself and what's good for the Town of Marana. The people of the Community came to the open
meetings and gave their input, he would hope that Council wouldn't jeopardize the integrity of a
pretty well put together plan.
Dennis Kady, Arizona State Land Department 233 N. Main, Tucson, AZ.: He represents several
land holders in the planning area. He has one concern, the Tangerine Thornydale area. Council
needs to look at that as potential, to make sure there is the economics and the density that would be
vital to the Town in the long run.
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MINUTES OF REGUI,AR COUNCIl, MEETING
MARANA TOWN COUNCIL
JANUARY 7, 1997
Mayor Honea declared Council out of Public Hearing.
Mayor Honea: This item was continued until a special meeting can be held.
C. Public Hearing; Resolution No. 97-05 - A request for a variance to reduce the front yard
setback from 50 feet to 17 feet~ the sideyard setback from 60 feet to 3 feet and to increase
the max/mum height from 30 feet to 250 feet to allow a 250 foot high cellular communication
tower and associated service building to be erected for an AT~T wireless PCS communication
facility. The location is on a leased area of 2~400 square feet at 10455 W. Kirby Hughes Road~
within a portion of the northeast 1/4 of the southwest 1/4 of Section 18, Township 11 south~
Range 11 east~ Applicant is T.M.S.I.~ representing AT~T Wireless PCS~ Inc.~ 6360-1 E. Thomas
Road, Suite 318, Scottsdale, Arizona 85251.
Hurvie Davis: This is a revisiting to an item that came before Council previously but due to an error
in the public advertising and so forth we had to go back through the process. The item went to the
Planning Commission for a Conditional Use Permit for a communication tower located on Kirby
Hughes Road. Mayor and Council are sitting as the Board of Adjustments this evening on this issue.
Jerry Fiannery: This item is a request for a variance in height and in setback for a cellular tower
that will be 250 feet high. The Conditional Use Permit for this project went to the Planning
Commission last night. And the circumstances that surround the various necessity is that with the
zoning classification of WAG", Communication facilities are allowed through a Conditional Use Permit
in our current Town Zoning Code. Communication facilities by definition are typically in some kind
of satellite form or a tower or some other kind of wire or cable system. The tower in this case is at
250 feet, most communication facilities range anywhere from 50 feet to even 500 feet in certain
cases. The classification for this zoning designation allows for these communication facilities, it
doesn't specify that they are not allowed. It does have a height limitation for structures at 30 feet.
We've done some research and have looked at other codes in the State, many building setbacks and
many height requirements cite the building structure height as this. There's usually some type of
exception or exemption for other structures that are typically higher than that. What they do is they
stipulate that they go through a process, in some jurisdictions that process is only a Conditional Use
Permit. At this time the request is before Council for the height of 250 feet and a setback to 17 feet
from 50 feet. The property itself consists of 112 acres, this site is being leased off of that site and has
received an address and a legal description has been drawn. The Planning staff is here tonight to
answer any specific questions. The Planning Commission at the special meeting recommended 5 to 0
that the Conditional Use Permit be approved.
Dan Hochuli: This is one of the unique situations where the Planning Commission has the authority
to grant an approval rather than a recommendation. The Conditional Use Permit, which is the ability
to place a communications tower on the property is approved by the Planning Commission and that
was done last night. What's before the Board of Adjustments tonight is a variance to the setbacks
and a variance to the height.
David Morales~ 13420 W. Price Ln, Marana~ AZ.: The front setback is from 50 to 17 feet, they are
asking for three times the variance. On the side they are asking from 60 to 3 feet, 20 times the
variance. On the height it is 30 to 250 feet, that is 8 times the variance. The neighborhood that he
represents is the Price Lane neighborhood, he has lived in the area for 45 years. Everybody in that
neighborhood has lived there for a very long time. The neighborhood has signed a petition that they
don't want this tower.
Tom Clark: How many people in the neighborhood signed the petition.
David Morales: All of them.
Paul Samuelson, 14145 N. Wentz Rd., Marana, AZ.: This isn't the only phone company that could
put up these towers. The setback is three feet on the side. If another phone company comes along
they could put up a tower as close as fifty feet from his home. He is opposed to both the height of the
tower as well as the setbacks.
MARANA TOWN COUNCIL
JANUARY 7, 1997
Michael Renwsaat, 12303 W. Grier Rd. Marana, AZ.: He wanted to enter into record two things so
it is on record. The criteria for the Board of Adjustments from which they can grant or deny
variances which are being considered tonight. The second thing is after the Planning and Zoning
Commission meeting a copy of the Town of Marana Development Code specifying some of the criteria
that they used to make a determination on whether or not they can grant the Conditional Use
Permit. Even though it was a unanimous vote by the Planning Commission, the opportunity to be
heard and listened to by the opposing force was not there. The general feeling is that the decision
was already made before, and it was pretty obvious at the meeting. He doesn't feel that the 6 to 0
vote is reflective of the feeling of the Community that is impacted by that tower. He is opposed to the
variances. Mr. Reuwsaat passed out some information on the rezoning of that property. In the
application that was presented to the Planning Commission, the proposed use for the property when
it was rezoned to ~AG" use was agricultural with possible future addition of livestock auction area
and rodeo arena. Also in there on the second page, it states that the proposed rezoning is approved.
Will the existing use be removed, altered, or remain as is. And the comment that was written by the
applicant was "we intend to also apply for a Conditional Use Permit for a livestock auction and rodeo
arena on the property". If at that time when they were considering a Conditional Use Permit beyond
the livestock auction and the rodeo arena, if you had thrown in a 250 foot communications tower,
how would that have been received by the neighborhood area and by the Council at that time. It's
his perception and that of many that it probably would not have been reviewed favorably. At the
Planning Commission there were some discrepancies in terms of information that had developed.
The Planning Commission was very adamant that staff had done its due diligence in looking at all
the alternatives, all the sites that were possible. When he talked to Mr. Flannery today, he indicated
that they had four sites brought to them and those were the sites that they evaluated.
Jerry Flannery: That is the case. First there was a request for a cellular tower on 1-10 and
Tangerine Road, that was denied at the Commission level. The applicants then went back and
looked at three other sites, one on Beacon Hill, one south of Tangerine Road and then this location.
This is the one that they chose and this is the one staff accepted for review and a Conditional Use
Permit.
Michael Reuwsaat: In a conversation with Mr. Garrison and his staff was that they were looking at
13 sites. In the conversation only two of those sites were eliminated for engineering reasons, that
leaves 11 other sites. There were also discussions that some of those sites were eliminated because
the property owner just said no. There are other sites that could of come into play or should of been
evaluated as potential sites for the tower.
Dick Kelly, 14-399 lq. Wentz Rd. Marana~ AZ.: When the first mention of this project came before
the public it was at the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, it said seven miles west of Kirby
Hughes Road. When the issue came up four weeks ago before the Council, it was mis-advertised
again as seven miles west. Mr. Kelly came up and asked the Council when they realized how close it
was to him and his neighbors, if they could discuss this issue. There is overwhelming opposition to
the tower. The notification requirements require that the residents within 300 or 350 feet have to be
notified to change variances. He is sure that was done, most of the people with 300 or 350 are the
applicants because they own a large portion of the land. A 300 foot notification area he does not feel
is sufficient. There are some people in Honea Heights that have signed a letter of concern, they
would have to look at this tower. A call was to TMSI, the contractor to this site and we asked a lot of
questions, they had some AT&T engineers who could answer questions that they had. AT&T could
build a series of smaller towers, and for microwave communication they could put their tower on
Beacon Hill. He knows that is one of the sites that was turned down for technical reasons. The
second option that he has is lease space from the other cellular company on their existing towers. If
this site is turned down and AT&T has to find another, they will. In light of the numerous objections
of the proposed tower and the alternatives opened to AT&T he respectfully requests that the variance
be denied.
Allen Garrison, TMSI, 6390-2 E. Thomas Rd. #220, $cottsdale, AZ.: TMSI is the applicant for this
request. He would like to thank the Town and staff for helping to expedite the opportunity to make a
presentation to the Board of Adjustments this evening. The Conditional Use Permit was approved
unanirBously by the Planning Commission last night. The location of the tower is in the "AG" zoning
district as staff has mentioned, this is the only district that specifically lists communication facilities.
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JANUARY 7, 1997
The purpose of a Conditional Use Permit is to allow the Commission and staff to provide for a
detailed review of the facility and review its compatibility and impact on the area. This review was
conducted by Town staff and the Commission on this site. They looked at is extensively and the
results of the review was that this was a very appropriate location for this facility. We feel strongly
that the location issue was satisfied for this site. We believe that this is probably the most suitable
location that you could find for this type of facility in the Town of Marana. At the last hearing some
of the questions that came up on the location regarding other potential sites, Beacon Hill was one of
the sites rejected by the engineering department. It was also on staff's recommendation because of a
subdivision at the base of Beacon Hill. Another one of the sites that was brought up last week was
the AM radio towers which are existing southwest of this location. FCC requires that they be a
certain distance away from AM radio towers and the AM station would not allow them to locate
there. This is not a fill in cellular site, this is a microwave end point and it is also provides cellular
service between the Tucson area and north of Marana. Its primary function is that of a microwave
relay. This is the most important facility we have in the Phoenix/Tucson area. The Planning
Commission unanimously approved the Conditional Use Permit twice and the applicant has been
fully aware of a requirement for the variance. Regarding setbacks, they need to limit the impact on
the landlord's property. There is no need for any more property than what has been proposed to be
leased from the land owner. There's no noise, there's no traffic, there's no vibration, no odor, no
dust. There's no other effects from this facility that would warrant any significant buffering or
increased setbacks. The required setbacks would simply result in the facility being in the middle of a
piece of property where it would result in wasteful land use. Regarding the effect on future
development potential of the area, he has some photos he would like to pass out. The first group of
photos are of a U.S. West pole that is in the Catalina Shadows subdivision. The next photo is of
towers in the Sunrise Drive and Swan Road area in Tucson. The last set are towers that are in the
Ventana Canyon area, these are 500 foot towers, there's six of them. All of these towers were in place
before most of the surrounding development took place. The simple fact is that the towers will not be
a deterrent to development in the area and they will not create a reduction in property values. He
summarized by saying that this site is crucial to the AT&T wireless system, a tremendous amount of
time and resources have been spent over the past thirteen months in an effort to meet the desires
and planning objectives of the Town of Marana.
Mayor Honea: He believes that these goals could probably be accomplished with a shorter tower.
Allen Garrison: There was some additional testing done last week at 250 foot tower height. If the
tower was lower, some coverage would be lost and some signal quality from the cellular service that
this tower provides. They did find that the microwave system would function at a lower height on
this tower.
Mayor Honea: What was that height.
Allen Garrison: The height could be lowered to 175 feet for the microwave facility.
Mayor Honea: He is trying to determine what the lowest height would be that would still make it
feasible to still use this site.
Allen Garrison: It would be 175 feet. Any lower than that the microwave facility will not have the
line of sight, the facility would not function.
Sharon Price: She's heard a lot of rumors that there are alternate sites that are very close to the
existing site that the applicant is looking at, is that true.
Allen Garrison: He would have to direct that question to Gary Greeno, who is the TMSI acquisition
person for this area, he does not have the answer for that. There's some in the vicinity that are in
the north end of Marana, actually in the County north of Kirby Hughes Road but he doesn't know
the exact locations.
Gary Greeno, TMSI: He has been quite active in the site acquisition portion of the AT&T project in
Tucson since it was started. He has reviewed all of the 13 or 14 sites for this project. The closest
potential site them would have, and there may be some problems with Pinal County Air Park, there
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MARANA fOWN COUNCIL
.JANUARY 7, 1997
is a potential site within Pinal County, however it has not yet been approved by FAA and there would
be some question of that. That's one of the problems run into in the Marana area, is the air
corridors, they want to stay out of these corridors.
Sharon Price: When Mr. Kelly went and got signatures in the immediate area of this project, what
percentage of the home owners signed.
Dick Kelly: 100% of the homes were not approached, therefore he doesn't know. There were 57 total
signatures, 15 were from Continental Ranch.
Sharon Price: Is it a larger percentage for the people that would be directly affected.
Dick Kelly: He'd say 30% to 40%.
Sharon Price: How high are the existing towers that are over in the area.
Dick Kelly: No he doesn't, he's been told variously from 200 to 300 feet.
Herb Kai: How many years does AT&T expect to have this tower on site and after the term would it
be taken down.
Gary Greeno: This is pretty standard procedure of all the leases he has negotiated. The actual terms
are probably confidential between the landlord and AT&T. However, the realities are as long as the
technology works in this type of system and AT&T finds the business feasible, probably for a good
many years, probably a minimum of 5 to 10 years, that's only a guess.
Herb Kai: He would like to get an idea of the term of this project. There's quite an investment to put
the tower up.
Gary Greeno: Generally a minimum of five years and probably a maximum of thirty years. If there's
any reason that the tower is not feasible it would be removed within 90 days.
RECESS
Mrs. Herb Doenz, 14180 W. Kirby Hughes Rd., Marana, AZ.: Mrs. Doenz and her husband chose
to live in Marana and they are glad they did. They like where they live, but they are against the
tower, they do not want it. It should be located in an industrial site.
Todd Daoust, 6390-1 E. Thomas, #100, Scottsdale, AZ.: Mr. Daoust is the real estate acquisition
manager for AT&T Wireless. Before going into an area AT&T goes in and does an analysis and looks
at existing structures in the area. In looking at the options this is the one AT&T has chosen to
proceed on.
Sherry Millner: The people that have opposed this tower, have they seen the kind of tower it is.
Todd Daoust: It was mentioned to them on the telephone and they have driven by the two locations,
there are two in the Picacho area.
Mark Jacobson, 6390-1 E. Thomas, #100, Scottsdale, AZ.: Mr. Jacobson also works for AT&T
Wireless, he is the engineering manager for the Arizona area. At 250 feet they will have a lot of
coverage for this site. At 175 feet that would pretty much be the minimum coverage to cover the
freeway, to make the connection with the Walker Ranch site. The Beacon Hill site was discussed
earlier. There is a couple reasons why AT&T did not go with that site. One was due to the lack of
coverage along the freeway for about a mile and a half stretch of road. That would of resulted in calls
being dropped in that area for those that have cellular phones. The microwave path would work from
there, but they try to build the sites such that they can do both functions at the same time.
Joe Parsons, 13580 W. Kirby Hughes Rd., Marana, AZ.: He wanted to clarify a few things to
Council. The reason for this specific location was to not inhibit airplanes, crop dusters and so on. As
7
far as property values go, this would be their second tower, they have one located on a piece of
property in Tucson in a residential area. That land is worth somewhere around $25,000.00 an acre,
it has not affected the values of the land. If it was going to affect the values of the land here, they
wouldn't go ahead and do it.
Tom Clark: He knows that Mr. Parsons and Mr. Garrison are probably aware that the Parsons
neighbor directly to the north of them, Stan Gladden who on December 17, 1996 had a letter in
support of this tower has resubmitted a new letter in opposition to the tower. He is opposed to this
project, these towers are going up all over the place. That is all you see when you travel up and down
Interstate 10.
Mayor Honea: What does the Council think about going 175 feet on the tower, it would still be
functional. He doesn't want to see a bunch of towers in the valley either, but with all the companies
that are wanting to come in, they're going to come. The could end up leasing a piece of property in
the County just a few rrdles from this property and they could build it as tall as they wanted and the
Town would have no say.
Tom Clark: He thinks that the Town of Marana has gotten to the point and conducted itself in such
a manner that Pima County would listen to the Town if we had any objections to a tower that was in
the proximity of Marana even though it was in Pima County.
Sherry Millner: She agrees with Joe Parsons that if this tower doesn't go in his property, who's to
say, across the street is Pima County, that they're not going to put four of them up there. Then the
Town wouldn't have much say. If the Town lowers it 175 feet, again that's not tall enough so if other
companies come in they're going to have to have another tower. She looked at the two pictures and
the one Mr. Kelly gave was a misrepresentation of the one that they are discussing putting up. We
have a choice now to say what the Town wants, or we can wait for Pima County to put something in.
Herb Kai: He agrees, if this site is turned down they will find a site somewhere else.
Tom Clark: The two towers are the same height in the photos, one is painted red and white and the
other one is galvanized.
Jerry Flannery: This tower will have lattice and will be gray and white as was stated. The picture
was taken at a half a mile.
A motion was made by Tom Clark, seconded by Herb Kai and carried 6 to 1 with Mayor Honea
voting Nay, with the Council sitting as Board of Adjustments disapprove Resolution No. 97-05 for a
variance as requested by T.M.S.I. of a cellular communication facility on leased property at 14055
W. Kirby Hughes Road against the staff's recommendation.
Vice Mayor Sharon Price left the Council Meeting, 9:50 p.m..
D. Design Concept Report for Ina Road Improvement - Presentation by Parsons-Brinkerhoff~
consultant to the Town, on the desitin concept report for the Ina Road Improvement Project.
Hurvie Davis: When the Town annexed the Ina/Thornydale Road area into the Town of Marana in
October of 1993, at the time meetings were being held with various interests, property owners in the
area, they were concerned with transportation being a problem. They wanted to know what the Town
was going to do about it, how it was going to address the transportation issues there. As the Council
knows staff has been working on the Thornydale Road project with Pima County, and also the
controversy that has been surrounding that project to some extent. However that project is
proceeding, the expansion on the bridge is progressing. However what we have done is undertaken a
study on the Ina Road project from I-10 to Camino de la Tierra, to look at what improvements could
be identified and advanced for the Ina Road area. The Town retained a consulting engineering firm
to do the traffic study for the Town, design concept report and so forth. Mr. Atler has been heading
up this effort with the consultant.
Dave Atler: The study was budgeted in response to requests made by the Business Advisory
Committee. Their primary concern at the time centered on Thornydale Road. As a result of the
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County's project on Thornydale Road, the revised scope of work for a study are to include
Thornydale as it is ultimately going to be. The thrust of the study will be discussed by the
consultant, but we are not specifically looking a specific improvements on Ina Road at this time.
What is being looked at is a study that would identify improvements that may be made to Ina Road
or improvements that may be made in other areas. Mr. Atler introduced the consultant firm,
Parsons-Brinkerhoff and some of their staff.
John Rumbaugh, Parsons-Brinkerhoff, 177 N. Church Ave., Tucson, AZ.: Mr. Rumbaugh gave
Council a presentation on where they are with this project. The project lini~ts are from the 1-10
interchange up to Camino de la Tierra, it's about a 1.7 mile piece of Ina Road. The propose of the
study is to evaluate ways to improve the traffic flow on Ina Road. As Mr. Atler mentioned some of
that may be looking at not necessarily Ina Road but some other projected or proposed improvements
on other links of the network in that area. Basically the steps that are being followed to conduct this
study, first of all the existing conditions are being evaluated, then future conditions will be projected.
Deficiencies will be identified along the corridor, that could be anything for insufficient number of
lanes to insufficient configuration of median openings or anything else that it could possibly be
determined. Finally recommendations will be developed to deal with the identified deficiencies, up to
and including a recommended phasing on improvements. All this will be documented in a design
concept study report. That would then form the basis for going on into final design at some date,
whenever the funding is available. They started on the project in mid-October. Since that point of
time they have collected traffic counts, a firm came in that specializes in traffic counting. AM/PM
peak hour turning movements were also done at 11 separate intersections along the corridor,
including 24 approach volumes which will give enough information to determine where turning lanes
need to be. They have also conducted some U-turn counts, because there is some problems on the
corridor with people making U-turns to get to a particular business. At some later date in the study
once they analyze what they have they are going to do some drive way counts to see how efficiently
the drive ways into some of the business clusters are handling the traffic. All of this is somewhere
down the road, because they are just now near concluding the data collection phase. In the process
of doing this collection of data and in discussions with Town staff and other people, they have
identified some issues that are going to have to be dealt with as part of the study. Mr. Rumbaugh
showed Council a copy of their schedule. The notice to proceed was issued on the 18th of October,
1996, very shortly they will begin preparation of what they are calling the Summary of Existing
Conditions Report, that will be the first submittal to the Town.
Tom Clark: What is meant by the Hazard Materials Survey in one of the graphs.
John Rumbaugh: Part of the study is to identify any environmental impact, is this project going to
affect anything environmentally, one of those areas is hazardous waste. There was a survey done but
he doesn't have the results, there is nothing apparent out there that they are aware of in terms of
hazardous waste.
E. Resolution No. 97-02l The Links at Continental Ranch - Request for approval of a
Preliminary Subdivision Plat for a re-subdivision of a portion of Parcels 62, 63, 64 and 70~
within PepperTree Ranch Business Park/Continental Ranch, located at the northwest corner
of Cortaro Road and Interstate 10, within a portion of Section 22, 26 and 27 of Township 12
southt Range 12 east. Property owner/applicant is Southwest Value Partners IV LP~ 8160 N.
Hayden Road, Suite J-208, Scottsdale, Arizona.
Hurvie Davis: The Planning Commission has conditionally approved this Plat. Staff recommends the
adoption of Resolution No. 97-02 subject to the conditions listed in the letter. The applicant is here
tonight if they have anything to add.
Jim DeGrood, WLB Group, 4444 E. Broadway Blvd., Tucson, AZ.: He is here this evening on
behalf of Southwest Value Partners, the owners of this piece of property. The property that they are
concerned with this evening is approximately 251 acres in size. As part of this part they will be
conveying to the Town Continental Links Drive, which is the public road that runs along side of the
pit and the Santa Cruz River. He understand that San Xavier Materials has expressed some
concerns about this project, they have had a number of meeting with them. At this time it is his
impression that most of the issues are largely resolved except for the placement of a fence around
the pit perimeter. At this point the applicant is declining to put that fence up.
MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
MARANA TOWN COUNCIL
JANUARY 7, 1997
Herb Kai: Will there be any more excavation in that area.
Jim DeGrood: He can't speak to that. There have been representations made that they intend to go
deeper with it.
Steve Schulte, San Xavier Rock and Materials: This area is a particular concern to his company,
that is why they asked for the fencing. Their long range plan is to continue the mine there.
Mayor Honea: Mayor Honea asked Mr. Schulte if he was aware of a document that San Xavier has
from Pima County prior to being annexed that requires them to put up a fence if there was a
roadway built parallel to their property.
Steve Schulte: There are some different interpretations of those CC&R's. They interpret it different
from what Southwest Value Partners has. That document is 16 years old, he wasn't around so it's
hard for him to speak on it.
Bobby Sutton, Jr.: What is their basic concern for the fence, to protect against liability.
Steve Schulte: Correct. They don't object to the golf course, it's the general public, they are going to
be in close prox/mity to the operation.
Sherry MiHner: Even without the golf course there is liability, anyone could walk and fall in there
now, is that what Mr. Schulte just said.
Steve Schulte: You don't have the frequency of people, there's nothing there now to draw people to
the area.
A motion was made by Bobby Sutton, Jr., seconded by Sherry Mtliner and carried unanimously to
approve Resolution No. 97-02, the Preliminary Plat for the Links at Continental Ranch pursuant to
the staff recommendations.
Council Member Ora Harn left the Council Meeting, 10:30 p.m..
RECESS
F. Resolution No. 97-03 - Appeal for a variance to Title 21, Flood Plain and Erosion H~z~rd
Management Code, by Linda and Robert Coleman [Council sitting as Floodplain Management
Board}.
Hurvte Davis: The Coleman family is between a rock and a hard place. They are asking for an
appeal to reduce or eliminate the requirement to have their home elevated 1 foot above the base
flood elevation. The CC&R's of Adonis Mobile Home Park prohibits the structure from being elevated
above ground level. Mr. Atler sits as the Flood Plain Administrator and he would ask him to update
Council further.
Dave Atler: In 1972 the Adonis subdivision was platted in Pima County. He suspects they had some
original CC&R's at that time. They amended their CC&R's through their homeowner's association in
1983. He is told by Board Members from Adonis that a set of CC&R's was delivered to the Town in
1983, at the time there was no staff to review them to see if there was any conflict. It doesn't appear
at the time there was a conflict with the CC&R's and the Flood Plain Ordinance the Town had in
place. The issue in particular that's come to bear on this in their CC&R's in their requirement that
the homes be ground set. What they are trying to avoid is a mobile home park look in having them
skirted and sitting up in the air. In 1988 the Town of Marana adopted a Flood Plain Ordinance, an
updated Ordinance, it was essentially the same Ordinance that the Pima County Flood Control
District drew up and the Board of Supervisors adopted. At that time there may have been a bit of a
conflict with the CC&R's, but there wasn't anything real specific because there was no study done
for FEMA on the east side of the Interstate. The Town got a call a couple of weeks ago from the
Coleman's. It was brought to their attention the differences in the CC&R's and having the ground
set. The FEMA study shows it has to be 1 foot above the base flood elevation, that is not ground set.
I0
MINUTES OF REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
MARANA TOWN COUNCIL
JANUARY 7, 1997
The Coleman's neighbors and members of their Board were naturally concerned about the potential
precedent this might set. What Mr. Atler did is the Coleman's had the mobile home delivered after
much deliberation and speaking to the Town Attorney's office to see what the Town could do, Mr.
After didn't want to put new neighbors down each other's throats. So he directed Mrs. Coleman to
work with the neighbors and Board Members and set the mobile home at an acceptable level as long
as in a few days she would have an appeal letter before Mr. Atler. That he could then put this appeal
letter on the next available Council Agenda. Mrs. Coleman would appeal the Ordinance, normally
they are appealing permit requirements that they don't agree with. In this case they agree with
everything but there is a conflict. He has instructed Mrs. Coleman that there is a chance the Council
sitting as the Flood Plain Management Board would not grant the appeal this evening and that she
would have to go through some other mechanism. The Town's position would be that she would have
to raise the home back up. That again is in opposition to the Board of Directors of the Park and the
neighbors desires. He has identified in the blue sheet the problems that may arise with continued
appeal requests.
Mayor Honea: Adonis as a mobile home subdivision, can't they place those units as a non-
conforming use, because that subdivision was already platted for that originally.
Dave Atler: That issue was researched, they got a written determination from the Town Attorney's
office. Through requests from Board Members FEMA was contacted as well as Arizona Department of
Water Resources who administers the National Flood Insurance Program in Arizona. They looked at,
is it a non-conforming use, is there a grandfather clause because of the CC&R's. There is no issue of
non-conforming use on this, as far as a grandfather clause, it's only for housing that sits on the
ground today.
Mayor Honea: He is looking at this long range, the Town is going to have this problem again and
again. Adonis is a pretty nice subdivision and he would hate to see 10 or 12 units in the subdivision
setting up when all the rest are set down.
Dave Atler: A form letter was drafted and given to the Home Owner's Association to review. It
basically identifies the conflict, when somebody comes into to pull a permit the standard procedure
is they get a copy of all the requirements they are going to have to go through, that includes the
variance and appeal processes. Now for Adonis residences they have one that says that the Town
does not enforce subdivision CC&R's. He thought that it was important in this case to wave a red
flag, the first time somebody wanted to come in because they wanted to come in with another
variance, they would do that before they started spending any money to move a mobile home in. The
Board has reviewed that and they came back with some comments, the Town is trying to work very
closely with their Board of Directors.
Mayor Iionea: In 1983 or 1993 when there was the torrential rains, was there any home flooding in
Adonis.
Robert Sales~ 13449 N. Warfield Cir., Marana, AZ.: No. At that time Adonis Road did not exist.
Dave Alter: The flooding that would occur that is the concern of FEMA that would occur in Adonis
would be created by torrential down pours in the Tortolita Mountains.
Bobby Sutton~ Jr.: The homes that are on the ground now, are they exempt from being suspended.
Or could they come in and say you have homes on the ground, you are in noncompliance, which
would make us ineligible.
Dave Atler: The houses that are on the ground are grandfathered, that may only be for homes that
were place before 1992 when the new map came out, he's not sure.
Bobby Sutton, Jr.: Do the members of the community realize that by doing this it could cause the
people to lose funding for their homes and their insurance. It could get to that.
Dave Atler: It doesn't think that it would increase their flood insurance premiums. Where it affects
the funding is for new loans that have any Federal backing at all, that is the big down side.
11
Bobby Sutton~ Jr.: The additional premium would be for all of Marana if they came and put the
Town on some type of restriction.
Dave Atler: For anybody that's in the flood plain that is in Marana who has flood insurance, their
premiums would have a surcharge put on.
Bobby Sutton, Jr.: Not only would it include the property owners in Adonis, but anyone who has a
home in the flood plain, whether they are grandfather or not.
Dave Atler: That is correct. We would have to go in as the Town and correct the variances that were
granted. Meaning if someone was allowed to be at ground level, and they were suppose to be a foot
or two above ground, the Town would have to correct that and raise it.
Bobby Sutton, Jr.: We need to put in the conditions of the variance that if the Town does get put on
probation, to put these homes back into specs where they need to be that will be the home owners
responsibility.
Dave Atler: That is a good point.
Liuda Coleman: She wants her trailer to be to code, but the Board Members are telling her she can't
have her trailer at all. The Town is saying she can't live in it until she meets the codes. And when
she meets those codes the Board is saying she can't live in it. With this variance she has lost her
investment, she can't sell the property. She understands both sides but without this variance her
family will be homeless. The Town of Marana needs to work this out before another family goes
through this.
Bobby Sutton, Jr.: He would like to add a condition to the Resolution. That if the Town of Marana is
put on probation and we need to correct all the variances, that the property owner will be
responsible for bringing that home to standards.
A motion was made by Tom Clark, seconded by Bobby Sutton, Jr. and carried that the Council,
sitting as Floodplain Management Board, adopt Resolution No. 97-03 and approve Mr. and Mrs.
Coleman's request for a variance to Title 21 subject to the following conditions: 1. An acceptable
indemnification agreement holding the Town harmless in the event the home, property, etc., are
damaged by flood activities shall be recorded by the Town Clerk's office; 2. The permit shall comply
with the Standards for Manufactured Homes contained in Title 21, Flood Plain and Erosion Hazard
Management Code (Section 21.10}, regarding specifications for the anchoring system; 3. Submittal of
proof of flood insurance annually to the Town of Marana Town Clerk's office and 4. That if the Town
of Marana is put on probation and corrections need to be made to the variances granted, that the
property owner will be responsible for bringing that home to standards.
G. Resolution No. 97-04- - Appeal for a variance to Title 21~ Flood Plain and Erosion Hazard
Manal~ement Code, by Shirlee Jensen (Council sittin~ as Floodplain Manal~iement Board).
Hur~le Davis: This is another appeal to the Flood Hain Code and so forth. Because of the complexity
of this issue he will turn it over to Mr. Atler.
Dave Atler: This variance request is being made by the Jensen family who are in attendance at the
Council meeting this evening, their property is located in Berry Acres. In 1994 according to Ms.
Jensen, she came in and requested some information from staff and was given a map that is not a
FEMA map and wasn't the map that was adopted in 1992. She was told that there was no flood
problems in this area. The problem that that created for the Jensen's is they then purchased the
property. If the correct map had been referred to it would have shown the property in the floodway.
The main difference between the floodway and the floodplain is that the Ordinance does not permit
any occupied structures within the FEMA designated floodway. If there were other issues on the
condition that Council Member Sutton suggested in the last item, it may be that they would have to
move the occupied structure rather than raising it. That would meet the conditions that FEMA
apply. Ms. Jensen came in and applied for a building permit, was told to her surprise that she was
in the floodway.
Bobby Sutton, Jr.: This is a little different issue than the last one, but the same liability exists. If we
go on probation, the property owner may have to move that home, that will be a condition of the
variance. Is that clear to the applicant.
Shirlee Jensen 6770 W. El Camino Del Cerro, Tucson, AZ.: She is not that concerned with it, it
made it through the flood of 1983. The property will be useless to them unless they could put
something on there to be occupied.
Mayor Honea: Was there any flooding at all on that piece of property in 1983.
Shirlee Jensen: Yes, but it did not go under water.
Dave Atler: The flooding that occurred in 1983 wasn't just sheet flow it was a fairly broad flow
through there. That came from further out to the east and the south, it didn't just come out of the
channel in that area.
Mayor Honea: If we give someone a document that says they are in the flood plain and not in the
floodway, and they purchase a piece of property, then they come to us in this situation, he's
concerned about this situation. The Town could buy the property for what she paid for it or the
Town can go out on a limb and let the property owner build in the floodway. This is very different
from the last situation.
A motion was made by Bobby Sutton, Jr., seconded by Tom Clark and carried unanimously that
the Council sitting as the Floodplain Management Board, adopt Resolution No. 97-04 approving the
appeal by Ms. Jensen requesting a variance to Title 21, Floodplain and Erosion Hazard Management
Code, subject to the following conditions: 1. An acceptable indemnification agreement holding the
Town harmless in the event the home, property, etc., are damaged by flood activities shall be
recorded by the Town Clerk's office; 2. The permit shall comply with the Standards for Manufactured
Homes contained in Title 21, Flood Plain and Erosion Hazard Management Code (Section 21.10}; 3.
Submittal of proof of flood insurance annually to the Town of Marana Town Clerk's office and 4. If
the Town of Marana is put on probation the owner is responsible for removing the home.
Herb Kai: Can the Town have a moratorium or something established so the Town doesn't run into
these situations again. So it would be on record, don't buy anything in these areas and come to the
Council with these variances.
Dave Atler: The Code allows the Flood Plain Administrator the authority to deny an appeal request
and not forward it to the Flood Plain Management Board. If the Council directed him to simply deny
any requests for any more properties within the floodway, then they will simply be denied when they
come in for their permit and they will have it explained to them that that is Council's direction. They
would have to then contact a Council Member or the Town Manager if they wanted to be heard.
Mayor Honea: Maybe some materials could be put together and this issue could be put on the next
Council Agenda.
H. HOME Program - Selection of applicants for HOME Program for home located at 11680 W.
Grief Road.
Hurvie Davis: Back on October l, 1996 the Council selected an applicant for the purchase of the
home at 11680 W. Grier Road. What staff would like Council to do tonight is randomly select a
remaining candidate to be considered for that home in case the first purchase doesn't go through.
Mr. Cuaron is here this evening to handle this, he has the lottery.
Roy cuaron: Each member of the Council picked a number. #6 - Harold Sekavec, is the next
available candidate. #1- Fred and Guadalupe Garza, #3 - Rafael and Esmeralda Perez, #5 - Robin
Eagleman and #4 - Jaime and Lisa Esparza. In the order in which they were read is the order is
which they will be available for the purchase of the home on Grier Road.
I. Mayor and Council's Report.
13
MINUTES OF REGUI. AR COUNCIL MEETI~NG
MARANA TO~,VN COUNCIL
JANUARY 7, 1997
Sherry Millner: She attended the Southern Arizona Innkeepers Association for their annual Sunday
brunch, she met quite a few interesting and prominent people from the area. She was a little
disappointed that this was for the County Supervisors and there was not one present that she
heard.
J. Manager's Report.
Hurvie Davis: At the PAG Regional Council meeting on December 18, 1996, the Regional Council
passed Council Member Harn's motion to grant a seat on the PAG Regional for the ADOT Board
Member from Pima County for transportation matters only. Last week Mr. Davis met with John
Jones from the City of Tucson, he indicated to Mr. Jones that he felt he could speak for the Council
on this issue. That the Town was no longer pursuing the de-annexation of the Orange
Grove/Thornydale Road area to the City of Tucson. It was holding up the Town's ability to move
ahead with developers in the area. We still wish to pursue the purchase of the Tucson Water system
in the Town of Marana. Mr. Jones indicated that it would preclude them from annexing further east
which they probably wish to do. They were simply interested in that area because of the revenue
stream that would be generated from it.
X. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
Tom Clark: The intersection at Sandario and Marana Road, and the problems with 18 wheeler parking
on private property east of the Circle K. That has been brought to his attention by property owners and
people that are trying to get on the Interstate from Marana Road. Something needs to be done about
this problem.
Sherry MilIner: She would like to see about get some total management training for the Town staff
and elected and appointed officials. It's well overdue. Also we have outgrown the Town Hall and it's
going to take two to four years to get a new one, we need to start planning that and get going on it
now. Getting off on Tangerine Road and driving up the frontage road so you can get to Town Hall,
since that is the only way from Tangerine, it's blinding. Is there a way bushes could get planted along
the freeway, because the cars coming at you makes it hard to see.
Mayor Honea: It's State land, the Town can't do it.
XI.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Bobby Sutton, Jr., seconded by Tom Clark and carried unanimously to
adjourn the meeting at 11:40 p.m.
AUDIO TAPES OF THE MEETING ARE AVAILABLE AT THE MARANA TOWN HALL CLERK'S
OFFICE.
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are the true and correct minutes of the Regular Council
Meeting of the Marana Town Council held on January 7, 1997. I further certify that a quorum was
present.